« November 2017 Issue

The Intersection of Immigration Status and Health Has Never Been More Clear

Across the country, many immigrants are scared to leave their houses out of fear the Trump administration’s strong-arm immigration policies will upend their entire lives. Fed by the administration’s divisive rhetoric on the issue, immigration status has become an urgently significant social determinant of health. According to Jenny Rejeske, a senior health policy analyst at the National Immigration Law Center (NILC), “Even though [immigration] policy hasn’t changed, it’s changed how people behave and people are staying away from the doctor and not getting the health care they need.”

The administration’s proposed policies—notably, a proposed executive order on immigration and public benefits leaked in January and the decision to end the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program—contribute to this fear. While the immigrant advocacy community is working tirelessly to educate immigrants about what is – and isn’t – law, many immigrants are still fearful to renew or enroll in programs like Medicaid and WIC. This puts the health and well-being of immigrant families at risk.

While Community Catalyst’s focus on continued expansion and improvement of coverage for immigrants remain critical policy objectives, we now finds ourselves working alongside immigrant rights organizations to defend and protect immigrants from discriminatory policy proposals that extend beyond the health care sphere.

This summer, Community Catalyst joined the "Protecting Immigrant Families, Advancing Our Future" (Protecting Immigrant Families) campaign led by NILC and the Center for Law and Social Policy (CLASP). Community Catalyst staff members sit on the campaign's Steering Committee to offer strategic guidance on the direction of the campaign's communications, stakeholder engagement and mobilization strategies to ensure 30-plus local, state and national organizations are equipped to respond to legislative and administrative threats to health care, nutrition programs, public services and economic supports for immigrant families. The organization also participates in the Education and Mobilization workgroup to strategize about how local and state partners can quickly mobilize their bases to take action to protect low-income immigrant families.

According to Rejeske, the successful pushback against welfare and immigration reform in the 1990s was aided greatly by the engagement of health agencies and advocates. They publicized the ways restricting or taking away access to health care for immigrants affects public health, including increased health care costs due to a lack of preventive services and the easier spread of communicable diseases. History has led the coalition to engage with health advocacy organizations in the fight against the executive order and repeal of DACA.

“We were able to engage as a partner in this work based on the strength of our deep relationships we’ve built with health care advocacy groups across the country over the years,” said Alberto González, Community Catalyst senior state advocacy manager and organizational liaison to the campaign. “The organization has worked to make health equity a key component of our work and that requires us to engage in campaigns like this and to be more vocal about our support for legislation like the Dream Act and opposition to DACA repeal.”

Even if congressional action saves DACA, the fight for immigrant rights will continue as verbiage from Trump’s executive order has already made its way into legislation currently under consideration by Congress. Community Catalyst is committed to supporting initiatives that protect the well-being of immigrant communities and promote their contributions to our country.

To learn more about the Protecting Immigrant Families campaign and stay up to date on their work, sign up for their newsletter.

Jack Cardinal, Communications Manager, Center for Consumer Engagement in Health Innovation, Community Catalyst